A Hard Day's Epoch

Of dinosaurs and drummers

Carl Gottlieb's Stone Age-comedy Caveman is as ineffable a cinematic guilty pleasure as Hollywood has ever provided. It stars a motley cast that includes a Beatle (Ringo Starr), an NFL terror (John Matuszak) and a future sitcom queen (Shelley Long); it features stop-motion dinosaurs more comic than carnivorous; and all the dialogue is delivered in rudimentary "cave-speak." Atouk (Starr) is a weak but brainy caveman cast out by his tribe. He wanders the prehistoric world, picking up other misfits and creating new technology along the way to discovering who he really is and what it takes to be a leader. He also makes and eats the world's largest omelet. Caveman is silly and sweet-natured, and it features one of the catchiest campfire sing-alongs of all time — so sing along at 8 p.m. this evening at the Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood; 314-968-7487 or www.webster.edu/filmseries), when Caveman is screened as part of the Strange Brew film series. Tickets are $5 to $6.
Wed., June 4, 2008